South Africa Car Hire

Charles Smith, Die Burger

Cape Town - It will soon become unnecessary to have a cup of coffee to sober up after a night of drinking, as a new drink, containing beer and caffeine, is about to be launched.

SAB Miller has bought the trademark Sparks from McKenzie River Corp in the US. It is a new generation beer containing ginseng, guarana and taurine - known stimulants.

It also contains caffeine, which means that one could grab another beer in the morning instead of reaching for coffee after a long night out.

Concerns have been voiced that the drink will turn people under the influence into a state of being "drunk but wide awake".

With an alcohol percentage of between 5% and 6% this coffee-beer could turn people into loudmouths before breakfast.

Sparks apparently has an orange flavour and comes in a trendy orange can, so it may just be possible to convince your boss (or yourself) that you are actually just having orange juice for breakfast.

There are a number of these coffee-beers on the market and they are also called energy beers.

SAB Miller did not respond to questions on Wednesday regarding when Sparks would be available to consumers. It revealed though that it was a popular new market trend and that they wanted to be a part of it.


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Port Elizabeth - Police negotiators persuaded a woman not to jump to her death from the Van Staden's River bridge near Port Elizabeth on Thursday, SABC radio news reported.

The woman was taken to Thornhill police station where she was sedated.

On Tuesday, a man jumped to his death from the bridge.

His body was retrieved from the gorge below the bridge.

The man is believed to be from Uitenhage.

The bridge - nicknamed the "bridge of death - has become notorious for having been the scene of many suicides.


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Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance made public a list of 1 792 names on Thursday of public servants found guilty of receiving social grants to which they were not entitled.

It sent the list to the media in spite of a request from Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya for confidentiality.

Skweyiya had provided the names to the DA in response to a parliamentary question.

DA MP Mike Waters said: "The government has developed a tendency to hide from the public important information about the state of our country.

"We find it strange and somewhat offensive that the minister would ask the DA to be complicit in this kind of behaviour."

'Should be considered confidential'

In his full reply, a copy of which was made available by the DA, the minister asked parliament to apply discretion in the publication of the information.

"The content of the reply is comprehensive and should be considered as confidential," he had said.

The DA committed itself to respecting the confidentiality of information putting the nation's security at risk.

But, information on corruption, it said, should never be swept under the carpet.

"We understand that the individuals named in the minister's reply were caught stealing and agreed to sign admissions of guilt.

"It is perhaps appropriate, therefore, that they have not been charged criminally, but the state's generosity should not extend to protecting their anonymity."

Taxpayers had a right to know who had been stealing their money, said Waters.

On Wednesday, the DA said the 1 792 were not being charged interest on repayments of the stolen money. They were also not required to pay a fine and were given "extremely lenient" repayment plans.

"In some cases, people can take as long as 31 years to repay the amount owed."

The individuals owed a combined total of just under R11 million. Of the group, 241 were employed by the police service.

There also were 425 teachers, nine school principals, 29 education specialists and seven legal-support services personnel.

The DA said one thief, who earned a salary of R91 278 a year, was repaying an amount of R74 801 in R200 monthly instalments. It would take him 31 years and two months.

To date, two of the 1792 individuals had repaid their debt in full. Thirty-five were required to make a once-off payment, but had not yet done so.

Any public servant who could not immediately repay stolen money should be charged market-related interest on the amount, the DA contended.

All stolen moneys must be repaid in 36 months, and guilty parties also should be fined.

No mention made of interest

Skweyiya's office on Wednesday denied it applied double standards in dealing with fraudulent public servants.

It made no mention in a statement of whether interest was charged on sums to be repaid, or if fines were imposed on fraudsters.

The decision to prosecute or not rested with the prosecuting authority, the ministry said.

In the 1 792 cases listed, it added, repayment arrangements were made for periods of between 36 and 60 months depending on the debt owed and the guilty party's income.


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Pretoria - The special investigating unit (SIU) is probing 400 000 people who might be receiving illegal social grants and pensions from the government, said its head Willie Hofmeyr on Thursday.

He said the first phase of the probe, which started last year, focused on government employees. The unit would now start looking at private individuals.

Hofmeyr said: "We are dealing here not with thousands or tens of thousands of investigations to be done, but with hundreds of thousands... people have to realise that this investigation is very big."

In 2007 the department of social welfare would fund the cost of the investigation, contributing R60m for 200 extra SIU investigators.

The department estimated the social welfare system was losing R1.5bn in fraud each year.

Hofmeyr said since the start of the investigation 110 000 irregular grants had been cancelled, saving R400m.

Scale of action "huge"

By the end of this year, the SIU aimed to cancel another 125 000 grants, worth a total of R500m.

Hofmeyr said that, of 44 000 government employees receiving grants, 21 588 had been found to be false.

"They have been referred to their departments for disciplinary action.

More than 15 000 have had their grants cancelled and about 14 000 of those are being considered for prosecution."

He said the scale of action was "huge".

The unit had had discussions with the department of public service and administration, which was finding ways of dealing with the 21 588 disciplinary actions.

"The SIU also has tried to recover money from those who are able to repay.

"However, this is extremely cumbersome as court litigation is required to compel a debtor to repay, and they cannot be forced to repay more than they can afford," said Hofmeyr.

On Wednesday the Democratic Alliance said if any public servant couldn't pay the amount they stole immediately, market-related interest should be charged on the amount.

'They stole public money'

DA spokesperson on social development Mike Waters said: "What kind of penalty are public servants having to pay if they can pay off the exact amount they stole at terms that suit them? This amounts to nothing more than a soft loan.

"They must realise they stole from public money, and they must feel the consequences of what they have done."

"A relatively small group have agreed to repay substantially less than what they should be able to afford.

"In these cases it is unacceptable that they repay small amounts over long periods, despite the fact that they earn substantial salaries.

Hofmeyr said: "Thus the SIU has already identified a list of cases where it intends to take legal action to ensure proper repayments are made."

"The joint investigation by the SIU and the department is on an unprecedented scale in South Africa.

"About 200 staff will work full-time for several years investigating hundreds of thousands of potential cases and taking thousands of cases to court for criminal prosecution," said Hofmeyr.


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Cheri-Ann James, Die Burger

Port Elizabeth - "They must be thankful I didn't find them in my bedroom because I would have attacked them with an axe!" said an angry Rina Coetzee of Sunridge Park after catching a burglar in her lounge.

Coetzee, 70, who keeps an axe and a gun next to her bed, said she was woken from her afternoon nap on Thursday because of barking dogs.

"I got up and was going towards the kitchen when I heard the security gate make a noise.

"When I went into the lounge, I saw a youngster on his hands and knees on the floor, looking up at me.?

Coetzee said she had no second thoughts and charged at the youth, shouting at the top of her voice.

He got such a fright that he turned tail and fled.

Kicked in the front door

A second would-be burglar, waiting outside, also took to his heels.

Coetzee said she thought they were about 19 years old.

"I praise the Lord because they turned and fled.

"My biggest fear is that I might be raped.

"I've been in a state of shock since then."

Apparently, the burglars scaled a wall behind the house and then came around to the front where they kicked in the front door.

Jackie Nel, Coetzee's domestic worker, said she would do the burglars bodily harm if she laid her hands on them.

"I shiver to just think what could have happened to granny," she said.

According to Coetzee, the burglars got away with a laptop computer that was next to a cupboard in the entrance hall.

"My son left it there and someone was to have come to collect it," she said.

Cans left as markers?

Coetzee said she saw a Coca-Cola can in front of her house after the incident.

"I can't say for sure, but I think the burglars left it there to mark my home.?

Security companies have been warning home owners to be on the lookout for cool drink cans in front of their properties as they are believed to be left there as markers for would-be burglars.


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Cheri-Ann James, Die Burger

Port Elizabeth - "They must be thankful I didn't find them in my bedroom because I would have attacked them with an axe!" said an angry Rina Coetzee of Sunridge Park after catching a burglar in her lounge.

Coetzee, 70, who keeps an axe and a gun next to her bed, said she was woken from her afternoon nap on Thursday because of barking dogs.

"I got up and was going towards the kitchen when I heard the security gate make a noise.

"When I went into the lounge, I saw a youngster on his hands and knees on the floor, looking up at me.?

Coetzee said she had no second thoughts and charged at the youth, shouting at the top of her voice.

He got such a fright that he turned tail and fled.

Kicked in the front door

A second would-be burglar, waiting outside, also took to his heels.

Coetzee said she thought they were about 19 years old.

"I praise the Lord because they turned and fled.

"My biggest fear is that I might be raped.

"I've been in a state of shock since then."

Apparently, the burglars scaled a wall behind the house and then came around to the front where they kicked in the front door.

Jackie Nel, Coetzee's domestic worker, said she would do the burglars bodily harm if she laid her hands on them.

"I shiver to just think what could have happened to granny," she said.

According to Coetzee, the burglars got away with a laptop computer that was next to a cupboard in the entrance hall.

"My son left it there and someone was to have come to collect it," she said.

Cans left as markers?

Coetzee said she saw a Coca-Cola can in front of her house after the incident.

"I can't say for sure, but I think the burglars left it there to mark my home.?

Security companies have been warning home owners to be on the lookout for cool drink cans in front of their properties as they are believed to be left there as markers for would-be burglars.


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Warsaw - Poland's navy said on Thursday that it had identified a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea as almost certainly being Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin - a find that promises to shed light on a 59-year-old mystery surrounding the ship's fate.

The Polish oil company Petrobaltic discovered the shipwreck on July 12 on the sea floor about 60km north of the port city of Gdansk.

Suspecting it could be the wreckage of the Graf Zeppelin, the Polish navy sent a survey vessel on Tuesday, navy spokesperson Bartosz Zajda said.

"We are 99% sure - even 99.9% - that these details point unambiguously to the Graf Zeppelin," Dariusz Beczek, the commander of the vessel, ORP Arctowski, said after returning to port on Thursday morning.

At sea, naval experts used a remote-controlled underwater robot and sonar photographic and video equipment to gather digital images of the 260m-long ship, Zajda said.

"The analyses of the sonar pictures and the comparison to historical documents show that it is the Graf Zeppelin," Zajda told The Associated Press.

Waiting to find the name

Zajda said a number of characteristics of the wrecked ship exactly matched those of the Graf Zeppelin, including the ship's measurements and a device that lifted aircraft onto the launch deck from a lower deck.

The experts were still waiting to find the name "Graf Zeppelin" on one the ship's sides before declaring with absolute certainty that it is the German carrier, Zajda said.

The Graf Zeppelin was Germany's only aircraft carrier during World War II.

It was launched on December 8 1938, but never saw action due to Hitler's disenchantment with his navy and political squabbles in the Nazi high command.

After Germany's defeat in 1945, the Soviet Union took control of the ship.

'What-if'

On August 16 1947, Soviets used the ship for target practice, filling the hold with munitions before practicing dive bombing techniques on it.

The ship eventually sank, but its exact position has been unknown ever since.

Nick Hewitt, a historian at the Imperial War Museum in London called the Graf Zeppelin "a fascinating what-if".

"Nobody really knows that much about her," Hewitt told the AP.

"You get a look at what she was like, whether she had an armoured deck and all that sort of stuff, and you can figure out what she might have achieved."

Hewitt said the carrier could have had "an enormous impact" on the war, likely wreaking havoc on Britain's convoy lanes in the North Atlantic.


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Johannesburg - A man wielding a Swiss knife had to be restrained and moved to the back of an SA Airways aircraft on an overnight flight from Zurich to Johannesburg, The Star newspaper reported on Friday.

This after he spent the first leg of the trip on Wednesday threatening a passenger with the knife, banging on the floor of an occupied toilet and repeatedly grabbing the earphones off the head of a woman sitting next to him.

At 04:30 on Thursday, a request was received to call the police and the "unruly" passenger was arrested when the flight landed at Johannesburg International Airport, the paper said, quoting SAA spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan.

A prominent Cape Town businessman, who did not want his name to be published, said he was among the last 30 passengers to board flight SA725 in Zurich.

In front of him was a man whose nationality he could not identify, who appeared to be "drunk, delusional or on drugs".

"The man was shouting and screaming, jumping up and down ... It's only a Swiss Army knife, it's only a fucking knife," the passenger said.


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Polokwane - A syndicate is swindling Limpopo businesses by asking for quotations and then requesting refunds after depositing fraudulent cheques for more than the quoted amount.

Provincial police spokesperson Superintendent Mohale Ramatseba said a number of businesses had already fallen prey to the scam, particularly in the Polokwane area.

"We are therefore urging the business community to be vigilant and verify the authenticity of the deposits with their bank before giving any refunds," said Ramatseba.

He said police had arrests some suspects and expected to arrest more.

Anyone with information about the scam can call Captain Philemon Makgaleng of the police's commercial crime unit on 015 293 7256 or 082 565 9176.


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Lynn Williams , Die Burger

Port Elizabeth - Ever heard of people who could sell ice to Eskimos?

The opposite was true for a man from Port Elizabeth who has landed in hot water for apparently conning a lot of people, who were supposed to produce and sell ice through his company.

Alain-Paul Oelofse is facing a string of theft and fraud charges involving about R7m.

At the time of the alleged crimes, Oelofse was the single shareholder and director of a company called Dortyger 11 (Pty) Ltd.

He changed the name in January 2004 to Cornecto (Pty) Ltd.

The State claims Oelofse canvassed people through newspaper ads between 2001 and 2003 to manufacture ice.

He signed agreements with the ice makers, and they were to have made ice for various dealers, the names of whom would have been provided by Oelofse.

Had to invest in scheme

Oelofse was to have provided the unsuspecting people interested in making the ice with freezers, ice-making machines and other equipment.

He apparently signed the contracts in his capacity as director of Cornecto and Miklain Enterprises Inc (Pty). Miklain apparently never existed.

The ice-makers apparently had to invest between R90 000 and R300 000 and were to have done business under the name of Global Ice.

According to the charge sheet, the ice-making was a flop and tons of ice have been stored in containers since 2003.

"There was an overproduction of ice in Port Elizabeth. The accused appointed manufacturers without getting the necessary buyers," it is claimed in the charge sheet.

Company truck was sold

Oelofse apparently used the money paid in by newly acquired ice-makers to pay previous ones, and kept advertising for new providers.

One of the theft charges was related to the sale of a Hyundai truck belonging to the company.

Oelofse allegedly transferred the money from the sale of the truck from Cornecto's account to his personal one.


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Cape Town - The best-kept secret in South African television is out: Mark Bayly, a little-known Capetonian with a dashing smile and a penchant for adventure, has clinched the coveted presenter slot on Survivor South Africa: Panama.

The show kicks off on Sunday, September 3 in M-Net's Open Time.

Media rumours abounded in recent weeks, linking Colin Moss of Idols fame, Big Brother winner Ferdinand Rabie and the Aqua Archer's guy, Gareth Tjasink, to the project.

There were also speculations about big-name celebrities queuing up to audition, long after Bayly had secured the job.

Carl Fischer, head of M-Net's Original Productions, says the channel decided to look very hard for a presenter who could be strongly identified with the Survivor brand, without entirely ruling out experienced presenters.

"Our mission was to look for someone without any strong association with an existing television programme; possibly a new face that would fit into the Survivor programme's profile. We were thrilled when Mark turned up to audition. He is an intelligent action man, he looks the part and he has an incredible screen presence."

Marie Rosholt, head of Entertainment and Infotainment at Endemol SA, the production company behind Survivor SA agrees. "It is always risky to introduce a new presenter, but we have an excellent track record in this regard. Mark joins Colin Moss and Mark Pilgrim as brand new television presenters we introduced to the small screen, and I have no doubt that he will also be hugely popular."

Veiled in secrecy, Survivor's host and some of the contestants arrived back in South Africa at the weekend, after a gruelling month on a Panama island, where five international productions of the show were being filmed simultaneously.

Bayly describes his experiences there as "absolutely unbelievable". "It was much tougher than anyone expected. When I heard about Survivor South Africa, I was keen to take part as a contestant. I have to admit: I'm thrilled that I ended up as presenter instead. It was incredibly harsh for them. Viewers are in for one heck of a treat."

It's not as though Bayly is a stranger to tough challenges. He describes himself as a watersport junkie, and he has taken part the gruelling Cape-to-Rio yacht race. The Survivor job, he states plainly, is a dream come true. "I still can't believe I got it. Am I dreaming or what? I love Survivor; I've watched every episode of every series screened in South Africa."

He rates Jeff Probst of the US Survivor series as one of the best presenters in television and studied his work closely before shooting on the SA series got under way, but feels it would be silly to aim at becoming a clone of the original.

"I can learn from him, but it's important to project my own personality. Otherwise it would come across as phoney and unbelievable."

M-Net will release the names of the contestants at a later date.


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Sakhile Mokoena

Nelspruit - Mpumalanga's controversial former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) secretary James Nkambule has been expelled from the party.

The ANC announced on Wednesday that Nkambule's membership of both the ANC and the ANCYL had been revoked after he systematically and publicly smeared senior party members in his privately-owned newspaper, The Truth.

The newspaper, which boasts that it reports "without compromise", uses the ANC colours and incorporates a traditional shield and spears into its masthead that are similar to the party logo.

The Barberton-based newspaper is published irregularly, carries no advertising, and has dedicated more than half its page space to criticising prominent provincial ANC leaders, whom it claims are crooked.

The February edition, for example, castigated deputy provincial ANC chairperson David Mabuza for allegedly appointing "cronies" on the candidate list ahead of the municipal elections.

Mabuza publicly refuted the charges at the time.

'Expulsion with immediate effect'

ANC provincial secretary Lucas Mello said: "Nkambule was subjected to an internal disciplinary hearing, and was found guilty on four counts.

"The ANC wishes to announce [his] expulsion with immediate effect."

Nkambule was found guilty on two counts of bringing the ANC into disrepute, as well as violating the party's constitution, and finally of violating his re-admission conditions which were imposed when he rejoined the party after resigning in 2000.

Nkambule resigned ahead of moves to expel him for publicly accusing Mathews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa of plotting to oust President Thabo Mbeki.

The supposed plot sparked a national probe by police and intelligence agencies, neither of which were able to substantiate any part of Nkambule's conspiracy claims.

Suspended from public office

The ANCYL suspended Nkambule from public office or active participation for a minimum five years, and he then resigned from the ANC before it could censure him.

The ban was reviewed in 2004, when Nkambule re-entered public life as a South African Civic Organisation (Sanco) office bearer and reapplied for ANC membership.

The party granted membership on condition Nkambule never again brought the party or its elected leadership into disrepute.

Nkambule failed to return repeated calls and messages on Wednesday, but remains a member of Sanco for the moment.

It is not clear if he still publishes his newspaper.

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Cobus Claassen , Beeld

Johannesburg - When South Africa's "speed king" died after an accident in which his jet-dragster overturned at a speed of about 500km/h, so did the incomes of about 130 investors.

An investment company owned by Johan Jacobs apparently owes millions of rands to about 130 creditors, many of them pensioners.

It was learned that Jacobs, 40, who died in the attempt on the world land-speed record at Verneukpan in the Northern Cape, had made investments as a broker on behalf of clients, especially pensioners.

It seems that after his death it was found that millions of rands had disappeared.

Centurion attorney Bertus Verster, acting on behalf of the creditors, said Jacobs's wife, Rhoda, had voluntarily liquidated their company, Brick Tower Properties, last week.

She was a director of this company.

130 investors involved

Verster said: "Some of my clients invested as much as R1.3m and I know of others who invested more than R2m.

"We are speaking of millions of rand. It's uncertain what happened to the money."

He said there were about 130 people whose money had allegedly disappeared.

Jacobs's clients had apparently received monthly interest on their investments up to the time of his death.

"My clients alone are estimated to have invested more than R10m. There are many elderly people, some of whom invested nearly all they had, with Jacobs and his company," said Verster.

Estelle Pienaar, 69, of Pretoria said she and her husband had invested a few hundred thousand rand with Jacobs.

"We got the promised interest of 8.75% every month until he died. We thought the first week (after Jacobs's accident) there was a delay somewhere, but soon afterwards we became suspicious." p>Pienaar said she and other clients were referred by Jacobs's office to an attorney who apparently did not respond to their calls.

Susan Swart, 66, of Pretoria said she had entered into an investment agreement with Jacobs on March 14 2003.

"Since then, I've received my interest of R2 400 monthly without any problems. After July (after Jacobs's death), this was no longer the case."

My bread and butter's gone'

A 70-year-old, who did not want to be named, said Jacobs tried to recruit clients among the residents of the Huis Herfsblaar retirement home in Queenswood, Pretoria.

"The money that's gone missing was my bread and butter."

Rhoda Jacobs could not be reached for comment in spite of repeated calls.

Her lawyer, Johan Viljoen, referred Beeld to a liquidator who was investigating the matter.

He did not reply to a message.


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Altus Momberg, Die Burger

Colombo - Andrew Hall and Herschelle Gibbs will open the innings for South Africa in the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka that starts at the SCC here on Thursday.

The Proteas go into the match with only five specialist batsmen after Boeta Dippenaar had to make room for an extra bowler.

The attack will comprise Hall, Makhaya Ntini, André Nel, Dale Steyn and Nicky Bojé.

Protea coach Mickey Arthur admitted on Wednesday that it had been a tough call, but said they had decided to take the positive route.

"To win the Test, we have to take 20 wickets. I believe the five bowlers will enable us to do that," said Arthur.

Hall scored 163 runs against India in Kanpur at the end of 2004 after being asked to open the innings in similar circumstances, but he must be regarded as a stand-in opener.

When he walks to the crease with Gibbs, it will be only the fifth time that he will have opened an innings in a Test match.

Same as losing two players

The South Africans have been forced into this decision as a result of the injuries that ruled out Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

If they were available for this match, both would also have played a role with the ball. That would have enabled South Africa to play six specialist batsmen.

"Jacques was the big loss," said Arthur.

"I don't think people realise how important he is to the balance of the team. To lose him is almost the same as losing two players.

Sri Lanka also suffered a blow on Wednesday when their most-experienced seamer, Chaminda Vaas, failed a fitness test. He has a hamstring injury.

Samantha Algama, the Sri Lankan media spokesperson, confirmed that wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene would replace Vaas in the squad of 14 for the Test.

It is expected that Dilhara Fernado will share the new ball with Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka will start the two-match series as overwhelming favourites, certainly in the eyes of their supporters.

Local newspapers have quoted Sri Lankan players as saying how seriously they are taking the Proteas, and that their good performances in England will mean nothing once these Test matches begin.

However, the Proteas may be able to capitalise on the unmistakable confidence of the home team.

It remains a risk to go into a Test match with only five specialist batsmen, though.

Concern about Nel's bowling

South Africa did the same in the first Test against the West Indies last year and were forced to follow on. Only an unbeaten 109 by Kallis saved them from defeat.

Members of the team's management have declined to comment on another issue, namely the concern about fast bowler André Nel running on the wicket in his follow-through.

If he is penalised and told that he may not continue bowling, South Africa will have only three specialist bowlers.

TV: Starts 06:30 on CSN and SS 2.


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Stellenbosch - South Africa beat India 2-1 in the second Test at the Stellenbosch hockey stadium on Wednesday night to go two up in the series comprising four Tests.

South Africa won the first Test 2-1 on Tuesday night.

The hosts could not have asked for a better start in the Cape wintry weather when they were awarded a penalty corner in the second minute. From a neat variation the ball found its way to striker Henna du Buisson who guided it past Indian goalkeeper Helen Mary.

The goal puckered up India's play and they dominated for the next 20 minutes. Their possession nearly earned an equaliser from a penalty corner in the 15th minute but SA goalkeeper Caroline Jack pulled off a great save.

If South Africa's opener was a well-worked ploy, India's equaliser in the 25th minute was a stunner.

The ball was struck hard at the right upright from a penalty corner variation and Jyoti Sunit Kullu charging in from the right, lunged, and deflected the ball high into the top right hand corner.

South Africa pressed back hard and after a rare attacking foray earned a penalty corner in the 28th minute. Not to be outdone their variation topped that of their opponents with the ball changing sticks on no less than five occasions to see Sharne Wehmeyer get the final touch and a 2-1 lead.

Worked their way back

South Africa began the second half in similar vein and attacked from the start but slowly the visitors worked their way back in the game. With the Indians shading possession the local girls were on the back foot for large spells.

But captain and player of the match, Kate Hector, marshalled her defence brilliantly to thwart many a menacing Indian attack. However, India nearly made the breakthrough in the dying minutes when Saba Anjum found some space in the SA goal area but was denied by the in-form Jack.

South African coach Jenny King said that her team were under immense pressure from the Indian side.

"In the first game we had far more space to move but the Indians closed us down very quickly tonight," said King. "But I was very impressed with the way we defended, especially at free hits and short corners. King was also chuffed with her team's resilience. "We did very well to defend our lead. In the past we have led but then thrown the game away in the death."

Hector agreed with her coach. "It was very tough tonight but we did well to soak up the pressure. Our defence was solid and our goalkeeper was brilliant." South Africa now cannot lose the series and play the third Test at the same venue on Friday night.


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Nkosana ka Makaula

Nelspruit - A man who liked to sing after a few drinks did not know how much his singing annoyed his neighbour.

That was until September 2004, when Abednego Sithole was beaten to a pulp.

Two months later, he was stabbed in the street and left for dead.

On Monday, his neighbour, Pedro Msimanga, 42, of Mataffin, outside Nelspruit, pleaded not guilty in Nelspruit regional court to a charge of attempted murder.

He said he had acted in self-defence.

Sithole's girlfriend at the time, Meisie Shongwe, testified that Msimanga had been complaining about Sithole singing when he got drunk.

In September, Msimanga allegedly came into the yard and found Sithole singing under a tree.

Sithole was sjambokked and punched so severely that he could not go to work for two months. But, Sithole did not press any charges.

Before he could return to work, however, he was stabbed.

Was stabbed seven times

Msimanga testified that Sithole confronted him when he was coming home from work and told him it was "payback time".

He said Sithole stabbed him the head, so he grabbed the knife and stabbed him back, in self-defence.

Sithole was stabbed seven times, including near his scrotum. Msimanga said he had the knife in his hand for less than five minutes and he was unable to say how many times he stabbed Sithole.

"Nobody stabs another more that three times in self defence," said prosecutor Vusi Segodi. "You just hated your neighbour".

The case was postponed to August 17. Msimanga is out on R500 bail.

News source: www.news24.co.za

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London - An English village cricket team narrowly missed out on one of the worst scores ever recorded after they were bowled out for five, with all the runs coming from extras, British newspapers reported on Wednesday.

No batsman from bottom-of-the-table Goldsborough Second XI managed to muster a run to their name in the match against league leaders Dishforth, who sent their opponents back to the pavilion in 12 overs.

The visiting side's only runs came from four byes and a leg bye in what is thought to be the lowest score in the 112-year history of the Nidderdale and District Amateur Cricket League in North Yorkshire, northern England.

But Dishforth made hard work of the reply, losing two wickets themselves in the meagre run-chase.

The Daily Telegraph said Goldsborough's effort was not as bad as English Midlands side Shepstone's XI who were all out for four extras in 1931.

Goldsborough's captain Peter Horseman said: "We could have got a run but the batsman had just been hit on the foot the ball before and he turned down the chance."

News source: www.news24.co.za

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Beirut - A senior Hezbollah official said on Tuesday they hadn't expected Israel to react so strongly to the capture of two Israeli soldiers last month.

Mahmoud Komati, the deputy chief of the Hezbollah politburo, also told The Associated Press that his group would not lay down arms.

This is the first time that a leader from the group has suggested it miscalculated the consequences of the July 12 cross-border raid that seized the two.

"The truth is - let me say this clearly - we didn't even expect (this) response... that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war against us," said Komati.

He said Hezbollah had expected "the usual, limited response" from Israel.

In the past, he said, Israeli responses to Hezbollah actions had included sending commandos into Lebanon and kidnapping Hezbollah officials or briefly targeting specific Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

Prisoner swop

He said his group had also anticipated negotiations to swop the soldiers with three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a mediator as it had in past prisoner exchanges.

Komati also gave higher casualty figures for Hezbollah than the 11 the group had reported so far in the 13-day-old conflict.

He said that as of Monday 25 had been killed, including 17 in ground fighting with Israeli troops in south Lebanese border towns.

Later on Tuesday, Hezbollah said two more had died.

Israel has said Hezbollah is greatly underreporting its casualties.

The Israeli army chief of staff, Brigadier-General Udi Nehushtan, said on Tuesday in Jerusalem that "dozens" of Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the past two weeks.

Despite Israel's and Hezbollah's claims about the number of fighters killed, it was not possible to independently determine the number, or sometimes to distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The health ministry said on Tuesday that 375 civilians had been killed in the campaign, in addition to 20 Lebanese soldiers.

The Hezbollah claim on the death toll would bring the total to 422 dead in Lebanon.

At least 41 Israelis have been killed in the campaign - 24 of them soldiers.

News source: www.news24.co.za

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Cape Town - Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has denied having any interest in becoming president of the ANC.

"I have not engaged, nor sought to engage others on my behalf, in any campaign with respect to the presidency of the ANC, and have no interest in being a candidate," he said on Tuesday.

Reports to this effect "are pure speculation with no factual basis", Ramaphosa said in a statement on the letterhead of his Shanduka investment company.

"Like all ANC members, I am bound by the discipline, traditions, organisational culture and processes of the organisation. I have not, and will not, act in a manner contrary to these practices."

City Press newspaper reported on Sunday that Ramaphosa, a senior ANC member, had entered the race for the party presidency.

It said he apparently had the backing of former president Nelson Mandela and key businesspeople in his "spirited campaign" for the presidential campaign.

Incumbent Thabo Mbeki's second spell comes to an end with the party's 2007 national congress - where new leaders are to be elected.

'Madiba will remain entirely impartial'

Mbeki, whose second term as president of the country ends in 2009, has reportedly said he would consider staying on as ANC leader beyond 2007. There is no constitutional limit to the number of successive party presidencies that can be served.

Another contender was Jacob Zuma, axed by Mbeki from the deputy presidency of the country pending Zuma's upcoming corruption trial. Zuma remains deputy president of the party.

Mandela on Monday opted for a neutral public stance on the Ramaphosa reports.

"Madiba will remain entirely impartial in this matter," his spokesperson Zelda la Grange said.

"He will let himself be led by the structures of the ANC when it comes to the election of the new president. It will depend on what is decided by the provinces and the national executive committee."

With roots in trade unionism, Ramaphosa, 53, is a former secretary-general of the ANC. He was considered a candidate to replace Mandela at the end of his presidency in 1999.

He now sits on the boards of several companies.

Ramaphosa and two other senior ANC members and businessmen, Tokyo Sexwale and Mathews Phosa, were investigated in 2001 in connection with an alleged plot to oust Mbeki. They were cleared.

News source: www.news24.co.za

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